A deal to buy a downtown Los Angeles office building adorned with work by elusive U.K. artist Banksy wasn't done solely to own the mural. The buyers said they wanted the property, in part, because owning a piece of high-profile real estate represents the freedom they enjoy in the United States.
Three law partners, Daniel Azizi, Salar Hendizadeh and Farid Yaghoubtil, of Downtown LA Law Group bought the roughly 26,000-square-foot building at 908-910 S. Broadway for $8.5 million in November through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy court proceeding. The sale made them the newest owners of the office property built in 1914.
With their purchase, they also got the 13 foot-by-33-foot "Girl on a Swing" mural that Banksy painted on the building in 2010. The renowned street artist's work has made the property a public art destination in downtown Los Angeles.
The deal to buy the building also marked something of a return to their roots for the law firm partners who grew up working and playing around the century-old structure in the Fashion District neighborhood while being raised by immigrant parents from Iran.
For Hendizadeh, owning property in America has a special value given his past experiences growing up in his home country. Hendizadeh was forced to leave Iran as a child because of the Iranian Revolution that started in 1978, a time when he saw property being stripped from family members.
"It's amazing to be in a country where you buy a piece of real estate and know that it's not going to be taken away from you," Hendizadeh said in an interview.
The partners plan to move their accident and injury law firm founded more than a decade ago into the Banksy building next year.
"We spent summers and winters working here," Azizi said of the neighborhood. "We're emotionally attached to this area."
Similar to their personal journey, their company has grown from a 570-square-foot office in Koreatown to doing business not only in Los Angeles but across the country.
Lone Bidder
Yaghoubtil, Azizi and Hendizadeh have known each other for years. Yaghoubtil and Azizi are cousins. "We’ve been best friends since I could remember," Yaghoubtil said. "Sal is our friend. We have known him since elementary school."
The law partners and friends never thought they'd be in contention to buy the building when they submitted their bid that was slightly more what the previous owners owed to their lender.
The previous building's owners hoped they could achieve $30 million for the property with the Banksy mural and were marketing the building as a work of art, not just a commercial real estate asset. Other works by Banksy have fetched more than $20 million, but those pieces are typically are carved out and removed from the structures.
It turned out the three partners were the property's only bidders.
"We were surprised," Yaghoubtil said.
The lack of bidders reflected the weakening demand for office space after remote work became popular during the pandemic, Yaghoubtil said. In addition, the stretch of Broadway where the building is located has lost its luster since it was home to palatial movie houses in the early film days of the 1920s. Typically, buyers on Broadway have a personal attachment to the gritty neighborhood which often lacks institutional interest.
Artwork To Remain
The partners hope the stretch finds a rebirth in the years to come. Regardless of the economic success around the building, they remain committed to keeping the art attached to the property and said they wouldn't saw the Banksy off regardless of the price.
That's because Hendizadeh said the Banksy mural can inspire children walking by who may allow their minds to wander while experiencing the artwork. The mural, too, is symbolic of freedom of expression, something that Hendizadeh didn't experience as a child growing up in Iran.
When he was a child himself, Yaghoubtil dreamed of a career in law. He said he saw the legal profession as an avenue to give back to his parents.
"It was natural to go into law. It was my dream since I could remember," Yaghoubtil said. "[My] parents spoke limited English and never had a voice. I felt that if I could achieve my goal of completing law school I could help them. It was the love of my mother that drove me."
Banksy hasn't reached out since the building sold, but the law partners feel that the elusive artist would support the new owners who have had to overcome challenges to find success in America.
"I yearned for freedom and found it here," Hendizadeh said. "That's why we want to preserve the Banksy. It really reverberates."